Medical marijuana company set for Friday launch of downstate delivery service

Medical marijuana company Vireo Health of New York will launch delivery service in two of the five boroughs of New York City and on Long Island on Friday, the company announced Thursday.

Vireo’s delivery service will begin in Brooklyn, Queens, and Nassau and Suffolk counties. The company plans to expand delivery service into the Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island and Westchester County. It also is eying the Capital Region and Souther Tier as future areas for expansion.

Delivery will be available for homebound patients with life-threatening and debilitating diseases, such as cancer, ALS and chronic pain, Vireo said.

Deliveries will be made by at least two employees in company-owned vehicles outfitted with GPS tracking devices.

“We’re excited to make history tomorrow with New York City and Long Island’s first-ever state-approved medical marijuana deliveries,” said Ari Hoffnung, CEO of Vireo Health of New York. “New York’s medical marijuana program now includes a wide array of patients and our home delivery program is designed to not only serve those patients who are home-bound or have trouble visiting a dispensary but also those who will appreciate its convenience.”

Vireo said patients who use the coupon code REGONLINE will receive $10 off their first online order.

Columbia Care NY, another of the Empire State’s five licensed medical marijuana producers and sellers, already has launched delivery service in western New York.

The state began the process of expanding its tightly regulated medical marijuana program to include home delivery, among a slew of other reforms, last summer. Delivery has been seen as not only a way to get patients necessary medication, but also to boost patient counts.

As of January roughly only half of the patients registered to use medical marijuana statewide were repeat buyers, a major issue for producers who have struggled financially since the program went live in January 2016.

As of Wednesday, 16,992 patients were certified to take part in the state program, according to the Department of Health.